Jacksonville, Fla. (March 27, 2015) - Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) has assembled an advisory council to advance the current and future work of WWP. This group of accomplished community leaders will provide leadership with direction that will help achieve WWP’s vision of fostering the most successful, well-adjusted generation of wounded service members in our nation’s history.

Created by WWP’s leadership team and board of directors, the advisory council includes senior government officials, current and former service members and/or caregivers, corporate or major donors, C-suite executives, and national figures who have demonstrated an interest in the WWP mission of honoring and empowering Wounded Warriors.

“The WWP Advisory Council will help guide the direction of the organization and navigate its future,” says WWP chief operating officer Al Giordano. “This council brings a wealth of experience to the table and will serve as an invaluable resource as we strive towards our goal of serving 100,000 warriors by 2017 and raising $500 million for our Long-Term Support Trust.”

Washington, D.C. (March 19, 2015) – The National Military Family Association (NMFA), a nonprofit that works to strengthen and protect military families, and Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP), whose mission is to honor and empower Wounded Warriors, are teaming up to give more military kids an opportunity to experience free summer camp with their peers.

Operation Purple® Camps, a program of NMFA, sends about 1,100 kids to camps at locations around the country each year. In 2015, thanks to WWP’s generous support, more than 2,600 military kids will get to go to camp. This partnership also allows NMFA to expand eligibility to children of the wounded, ill or injured.

Jacksonville, Fla. (March 19, 2015) – When injured service members return from the battlefield, they are faced with a multitude of decisions regarding their future. Whether it’s the decision to retire, enter the civilian workforce, or further their education, there is often a lack of direction or support for what comes next. For those who decide to pursue an advanced education, the road to a degree can be a complicated and often confusing one. It is with this path in mind that Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) operates its education initiatives.

As a part of WWP’s commitment to its mission: to honor and empower Wounded Warriors, the organization has teamed up with Sentinels of Freedom® to provide support for the continuing education of injured service members. Through a $2 million commitment over the next four years, this funding will help clear the existing obstacles facing these wounded veterans as they strive toward advanced degrees.

Washington, D.C. (March 18, 2015) – On October 15, 2004, over a decade ago, Army Specialist Matthew Drake’s life changed in an instant. The blast from a suicide car bomb in Al-Qaim, Iraq, killed the four passengers in his vehicle and left him with life-threatening injuries to his brain and skull, and serious injuries over his entire body. The injuries were severe. The damage from this attack, especially to his brain, would require critical medical care and intensive rehabilitation, but the uncertainty about his future was worse. Would he be able to walk? Would he talk? Could he care for himself? What quality of life would he have? What would happen in the future, when he would still need treatment and support, if his family could no longer be there?

Washington, D.C. (March 18, 2015) – Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) today unveiled its 2015 policy priorities during testimony before the Committees on Veterans Affairs for the Senate and the House of Representatives. WWP developed its policy priorities in recognition of the challenges our nation’s veterans, their caregivers, and their families face today, and in anticipation of their extended needs for the future.

In testimony during a joint hearing before both committees, Ryan Kules, national alumni director at WWP and a wounded service member himself, applauded bipartisan efforts over the past year that have resulted in the passage of critical legislation, including the Veterans Access to Care Act and the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act. Kules was thankful to the committee members for their dedication to wounded, ill, or injured veterans, their caregivers, and their families, and emphasized that many warriors are still struggling, and at risk of continued problems in the years ahead.